Crawling Through the Dust
by Star Paladin
Summary: Summary; Alexis' father has left Vault 101, leaving her to deal with the Overseer's wrath. Luckily for her, Amata has woken her up and helped her escape. Along with finding her dad, she meets a few interesting people that will teach her the lessons of the Wasteland, and maybe she can teach them a few things in return.
1. My Only Sunshine

_**Chapter Title;**__ My Only Sunshine_

* * *

_ You are my sunshine _  
_ My only sunshine _  
_ You make me happy _  
_ When the skies are grey _  
_ You'll never know dear _  
_ How much I love you _  
_ Please don't take _  
_ My sunshine_  
_** Away….**_

* * *

She has to throw her weight against the damn screen door to make it open, but eventually it does, causing the girl to tumble out and into the top of the little hill that the Vault entry led out to.

It's bright out. Way too bright. The girl has to blink multiple times and even still has to raise a hand to shield her eyes from the harsh, _natural_ light. Down in Vault 101 the lights were supposed to be like the sun, but those lights weren't this damn bright.

Alexis forces herself to stand up and winces at they way her knees crack, reminding herself that she's not the most physically fit being that could be heading out here…But if her old man could, so could she. Hell, her dad was a scientist for Christ's sake, not some sort of superman…

_Why did you leave me there…?_

With a gentle sniffle, the Vault dweller made her way down the small slope, already beginning to sweat within minutes of just escaping her old coo,l air-conditioned home. Frowning to herself, she considered stripping out of the light Security armor she had stolen, but then quickly decided against it…Alexis didn't know what dangers lurked in the Wasteland. Yet.

Off in the distance, there was what seemed to be….A large junk pile? No, as she got closer it looked like some sort of fortress. "What the hell is that thing…?"

Suddenly, there was a soft whuffing noise behind her, along with the clacking of overly large teeth. With a loud squeak, the girl whipped around and began firing her 10mm pistol blindly at whatever was there. A squeak in return answered her, along with the sound of something hitting the ground. Cracking an eye open, Alexis realizes it was nothing but an over-sized Molerat. The sight makes her feel both sickened and stupid. Sickened because of the beast's size and dead body, and stupid because it was only a fucking Molerat for God's sake.

She cut off a hunk of the creature's flesh to be eaten later if she can't find anywhere else to eat. Alexis had also realized that the creature had a small baggy of bottle caps in it's stomach, so she took those too without realizing that those were now the currency of the land.

The Protectron outside turned towards her for a moment, "Please hold for threat level assessment. Threat level minimal. Open the gates. Open the gates. Welcome to Megaton." The little badge on it's 'chest' read _Deputy Weld _making her want to laugh out loud at the sheer stupidity of the situation and irony of it's name.

Shrugging, Alexis entered the small town anyways, only to be stopped by some Lucas Simms character. He seemed nice enough, bothering to explain the caps and then offer her 300 of 'em if she deactivated the bomb in the center of town.

"If you're looking for a place to stay, head over to Moriarity's, just be careful." He tipped his hat to her and went on his way after that.

"Moriarity's…" The sign wasn't too hard to read from where she stood, especially since the building was raised up a bit. Sighing, Alexis forced her feet to move along the rusted metal walkways towards the Saloon, more wanting something to drink, some food to eat, and a bed to sleep in.

By the time she entered the bar, it was getting late and most of the patrons had filed out the door. Glancing around warily, Alexis realized that she was left with herself and the bartender, whom currently had his back to her.

"E-Excuse me," This got his attention, only when he turned towards her the girl brought a hand up to her mouth to stifle a gasp.

"Hey Smoothskin, do you need something? A drink, maybe? Anything? Anything at all?" Cue a scratch at his disfigured face, a small piece of skin coming off and making the poor man look more like a walking corpse.

Taking a deep breath, Alexis nodded. "L-Let me think that for a moment or two, please."

He looked a little bit taken back at this, "Wait…You're not gonna hit me? Or berate me? Not even a little bit?"

"…No?…"

The Ghoul grinned widely, managing to look both more horrific and not so scary at the same time. "This is a surprise! You have no idea how many asshole Smoothskins I deal with in a day, they only give me shit because I look like a corpse." He looked around carefully, checking to make sure that someone(Alexis wasn't sure who) was around. "It's nice to see that there's some worthwhile people still left in the Wasteland…So for you, I'll give you a discount. Moriarity would have my ass if he knew I was doing this though, I'll risk for you."

"Really? Oh, well….You don't have to if you'll get in trouble for it…-?" She let her sentence trail off, allowing the man to give her his name.

"Er, Gob. It's short for Gobtholemew." If Gob could blush, he'd be doing it right now.

"I don't want you getting into trouble, Gob…But…Have you seen a middle-aged man around here with a Vault 101 jumpsuit on?"

He nodded proudly, "Yeah yeah! I remember a guy like that. I couldn't really tell you too much about him. I normally have to keep my head down or else I'll get smacked around. Talk to Colin if you want to know more."

Alexis noticed a change in his facial expression, or at least what was left of his face. "Gob…Please, if you know anything about my dad can you tell me?" She gave him her best puppy eyes afterwards.

"Sorry Smoothskin, I can't take the risk. Moriarity would beat the shit out of me for even talking to you!" Gob frowned and shook his head now, once again checking over his shoulder for the mentioned male.

"…I-…Alright. I'll talk to him in the morning.." She pulled away from the bar and approached the red-headed woman leaning against the wall. "Excuse me, ma'am? How much for a room?"

"120 caps, and it includes company…~" The woman offered her a playful wink, then waited for her reply.

Alexis swallowed nervously, then shook her head. "And how much is it without company?"

"75 caps."

"Done deal," Counting out the correct number of caps, she handed them over and was then led up the stairs to the room she'd be staying in. She thanked the woman, who's name was Nova, and shut the door behind her.

_Where are you? I'm literally gonna bust my ass to find you, but it seems like you've left me some clues to track you with. Heh, thanks Dad._

With a quiet sigh, the Lone Wanderer curled up under the sheets of the crappy old bed, opting to stare at a wall for some 20 minutes before finally dozing off into a fitful slumber.


	2. Quick Pick me up

_**A/N; **__Wow I'm so sorry if the formats messed up...I'm trying to get the hang of using this thing. Also, the lyrics belong to the Beatles, it's the song "Happiness is a Warm Gun." ;-; I feel like this took forever to write and I'm sorry for that, everyone._

* * *

_I need a fix cause I'm going down_

_ Down to the abyss that I've left up town_

_ I need a fix cause_

_ I'm_

_ going_

_**down….**_

* * *

"Mhm! Just head on over to the Super Duper Mart! It's a little ways from her, but I bet you'll find it!" Moira Brown chirps happily to the Lone Wanderer over the counter, hands fiddling around with an old motorcycle gas tank.

"I see…And you want me to find medicine and food? Or at least try to find medicine?" Alexis frowned, but only because this woman didn't seem to make very much sense at all. She'd known the Vault girl for what, five minutes? Then she'd gone off on some 'Wasteland Survival Guide' that she wanted to write, almost as though it was really going to make a difference.

The overly cheery woman nodded once again, the action strong enough it probably made whatever brains she had in her skull rattle about dangerously. "As long as you can find some sort of edible substance you'll be fine! It'd be better if you found medicine as well though!"

"Alright then…I might as well get going. I'll be back later I guess…Bye Moira." Alexis turned and gave the bodyguard, Gary, an odd look before walking back over towards the door and gripping the doorknob. "_Thanks for the help._" The Vault Dweller added the remark under her breath as she pushed the door open and exited the shop.

Fucking sun….How long is it going to take for me to get used to the damn thing?

Not realizing where she was going, Alexis bumped into a rather solid being that was hard enough to push her back down onto her rear. The person blocked out the sun, making it so their features were hard to make out.

After a few seconds however, she adjusted and realized it was a male. "S-Sorry!" A dark chuckle answered her in return, a hand extending out and gripping her shoulder, then pulling her up rather forcefully. The person somehow managed to pull her flush against his body as well, her nose quickly being assaulted with the scents of booze and cigarettes.

"Hey there little lady…You're that new goody two-shoes aren't ya? The name's Jericho…" He sneered nastily, making the girl shrink back in fear slightly.

Alexis gently pushed away from him, a tiny small on her lips. "Well…It lovely to meet you I suppose…Do you happen to know where the Super-Duper Mart is? I have an errand to run that requires me getting there and-"

"Yeah yeah, don't care about that shit." Jericho cut her off with a harsh growl, shaking his head. "Look, I'll take you there…If you can promise me a little somethin' in return?"

"Like what, exactly?" She arches an eyebrow at him, then glances around him to try and see if there's a way around the man.

The dirty-looking man sneered again, then raised a hand and made a 'C' shape with it. He proceeded to to bring it up to his mouth and make a movement that looks similar to a sexual act she knows little about.

Alexis made a disgusted noise and pushed past him roughly, then hurried up the steep steel steps and out the entry-way of Megaton, Deputy Weld's tinny voice telling her to "Watch herself out in the Wasteland!"

The homeless-looking man sitting by the entry way reaches out to her weakly, begging for _purified_water. Like she has any of that, she's just like the rest of them…Drinking the radiated stuff they come across.

"No sorry I only have radiated…If you want some of this I can give it to you." She's already digging around in her pack, then he's flat-out refusing and she shrugs, putting it back inside the bag. "Uhm…Okay, suit yourself. If I find any I'll bring it to you."

With that said she turns and begins walking towards the location Moira marked on her Pipboy, having to clamber over several piles of rocks and slide down hills. Finally though, she comes across the building, only to stop and notice the signs that raiders had been there…Or they still were.

Hanging from the store's awning were several torsos with their limbs and head cut off, some of them dripping blood onto the concrete below.

_Some of these aren't all that old…Wonderful._

She paled considerably, the thought of getting shot at and having to shoot back becoming a very real concept for Alexis. She'd been out of the vault for a day or two at the most, and she was shocked at what she had found at the surface. Vault Tec's promises of a wonderful world waiting for them above was a lie. Too bad she couldn't tell Amata, Butch…Or any of the other Vault Dwellers.

Gathering up her bearings, Alexis gently nudged one of the doors open, wincing when it squealed a little bit. "Shit," She waited a few moments before pushing it the rest of the way open, the smell of death, drugs, and sex assaulting her senses right away.

_Jesus fucking Christ they smell so goddamn bad…I think I'm gonna hurl…_

Across the Market, she heard laughter and a few gruff voices speaking to one another about petty things, such as when they'd get more Jet or Buffout. Like they needed it.

Clutching her pistol tightly in her hands, the Lone Wanderer creeped a little bit closer to one of the check-out lanes, noticing that a few Raiders were walking atop the isles. They bothered to put boards between them to work as bridges, that was a little bit clever of them…Since they seemed so stupid.

Her foot collided with a bent tin can on the floor, sending it skittering across the floor and alerting the nearest Raider to her presence.

"Light 'em up!" The man screamed, dropping from his post and sprinting towards her, a knife pulled out and and held out in front of him.

Alexis let out a gasp of surprise and aimed her gun carelessly, her gaze pulling away as she fired it off multiple times. Most of the shots had missed, but she was lucky and shot his head maybe once or twice.

Footsteps echoed around the large open space, meaning that the other Raiders were coming for her, maybe to kill her or sell her to Slavers. If they caught her.

She quickly dug around in the man's pockets, taking his knife and some Mentats…Whatever those were. The girl kept her eyes closed throughout the whole ordeal anyways.

Once again Alexis closed her eyes tightly and raised the 9mm towards the on-coming attackers. She squeezed the trigger multiple times, hearing some of the Raiders hit the floor. A hand gripped her around the neck suddenly, causing her to let out a yelp. Putting her pistol away, she squirmed for a moment before remembering the knife she had nicked from the first Raider she killed.

The man let out a loud howl of pain when he felt the blade plunge into his wrist, his hand immediately releasing her neck while he tried to rip it out.

He was dead before he even hit the ground.

"B-Bastard…" She let out a soft whimper before hurrying away from the dead bodies and heading towards the back of the store.

The sound of pressurized air reached her ears within seconds, along with laughter and something hitting the floor with a clanging noise.

"Hell…" Alexis paused and cleared her throat. "Hello?"

Laughter answered her.

Following the source of the noise, she came across a boy that was maybe a year or two younger than she was, an empty canister of Jet at his feet.

The female took in his features, noting that he had incredibly shaggy blonde hair…And there was an odd tattoo on his neck. A bar code.

"E-Excuse me…? My names Alexis, are you alright?" She reached out to him, only to have him abruptly get up and grin at her.

"Snuffles, that's what the others called me! They were all assholes anyways, I bet they're sleepin' with the fishies now!" Snuffles let out a loud cackle, then shook his head out as though he got a chill.

"Er….Well, it's nice to meet you…Snuffles…I think you need medical help. You don't look so good."

It was true, the male's hair was falling out a little bit and he had bags underneath his eyes. His skin was overly pale and his eyeballs were bloodshot, along with his limbs twitching to and fro.

"No no no! I don't need help! I am fine! See?" Snuffles attempted to do a sort of dance, only to whack his head on the nearest metal box and pass out.


End file.
